KENNESAW, Ga. — Sam Richardson lined a single to left field to bring home Cooper Blauser, walking off Western Kentucky to go 2-0 in Pool A on Friday afternoon at Mickey Dunn Stadium.
Despite the win, top-seeded Jax State had already clinched a spot in the Conference USA Baseball Championship semifinals on Saturday. The Gamecocks will get fourth-seeded Dallas Baptist at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday in the semifinal.
Jax State improved to 44-13 on the year, while WKU finished its season at 30-27.
The Hilltoppers took to the board first with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first, but the Gamecocks were able to limit the damage with a lineout to Pillsbury immediately after the run scored.
Jax State took the lead with one swing in the bottom of the first inning, with Trey King smashing a home run to right-center field to bring Jaxon Pate home with him and take a 2-1 lead.
Western Kentucky regained the lead in the top of the second inning with an RBI-triple and a RBI-groundout, making it 3-2. The Gamecocks would answer in the bottom of the third when Brady Thomas unleashed a 435-foot homer over the videoboard in right-center field to tie the game at 3-3 after three frames.
Jax State took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with Luke Williams' sac bunt, bringing Matthew Cash home and taking a one run lead at 4-3.
WKU took advantage of another bases-loaded situation, walking a run in to tie the game at 4-4.
The Hilltoppers plated four runs in the top of the seventh inning, one from a solo homer and three from a bases-clearing double, to create some space between the two to teams at 8-4.
Jax State rallied to take the lead with five runs in the home half of the same frame, highlighted by a Cooper Blauser two-RBI triple to tie the game. A sacrifice bunt from Matthew Cash gave the Gamecocks the lead back at 9-8.
A two-run home run from WKU in the top of the eighth flipped the lead right back to the Hilltoppers at 10-9, but a home run by Jax State in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 10-10.
WKU would again take the lead with an RBI-single in the top of the ninth, setting up Jax State with a rally situation in the bottom of the ninth.
With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Matthew Cash tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Thomas. Richardson pinch hit and fired a shot to left field, bringing home Blauser, and winning Pool A for the Gamecocks.
Jax State will face Dallas Baptist on Saturday with a trip to the CUSA Championship game on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern.
